Protein intake calculator
Work out roughly how much protein a day suits your body weight and your training, in kg or stone. Nothing you type leaves your device.
These tools are for adults. Your age does not change the protein figure.
A daily range to aim at
around 120 to 150 g a day
This is a starting range to try, not a prescription and not a target you have to hit.
Start at the bottom of that range and see how it fits into your week before you push it higher. Most people land in the lower half without doing anything exotic.
The official UK baseline, for context
56 g a day (0.75g per kg)
That is the Reference Nutrient Intake: the amount an adult needs to avoid falling short. The range above is higher because it is about holding on to and building muscle, which is a different question.
For scale: a chicken breast, a salmon fillet or a tin of tuna is roughly 25g to 30g, two eggs about 12g, and a tin of beans or a portion of lentils about 10g to 15g.
These are general guidelines applied to your body weight, not a measurement of what you personally need. Round the figure: being roughly right most days beats being exact once a week.
Spreading it across your meals is easier than one enormous portion in the evening, and how to split it is a question in its own right.
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if your diet is managed for you by a doctor or a dietitian, including anyone living with kidney or liver disease, please do not take a protein figure from a calculator. Requirements differ, and the person who knows your history is the one to set them.
How much protein you actually need
The official UK figure is 0.75g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day. It answers a public health question, which is how much an adult needs so that almost nobody falls short, and that is why it looks low next to the numbers repeated in gyms. Most people in the UK already clear it without trying.
Once you are training, the relevant range is higher. The British Nutrition Foundation cites the American College of Sports Medicine at 1.2 to 2.0g per kilogram a day, and that is the band this calculator works in. Where you sit inside it depends on how much you are training and what you are training for. There is no benefit worth chasing above the top of it.
Why this protein calculator asks so little
Protein guidance keys on body weight and on your training. Your height and your sex do not enter the arithmetic, so this page does not ask for them. Every question a calculator does not need is one it should not be asking, and none of what you type here leaves your browser in any case.
You will not be asked what you would like to weigh either. The range is worked out from the number you put in, and because it is per kilogram it moves on its own as that changes.
What a protein range looks like on a plate
- A chicken breast, a salmon fillet or a tin of tuna: roughly 25g to 30g.
- Two eggs: about 12g. A useful addition rather than a main source.
- A tin of beans, or a portion of lentils or chickpeas: about 10g to 15g, plus fibre.
- A pot of Greek yoghurt or a portion of cottage cheese: about 15g to 20g.
- Tofu, tempeh or a soya mince: comparable to a meat portion.
A practical rule that removes most of the arithmetic: put a proper protein source in each main meal. If you eat plant-based you will want a bit more variety across the day and slightly larger portions, because plant proteins differ in what they carry.
Common questions
- Why does this calculator not ask for your height or your sex?
- Because protein guidance is worked out per kilogram of body weight, and neither of those changes the arithmetic. Calculators that ask for them are usually estimating your calorie burn as well. This page does one thing, so it asks for one thing.
- Can you eat too much protein?
- For healthy adults these ranges are well-trodden ground, and going a little above the top of one is not the danger it is often made out to be. The practical downside is displacement: protein is filling, so a very high intake tends to crowd out vegetables, fruit and the fibre that comes with them. If you have kidney disease, liver disease, or you are under the care of a renal team, agree any increase with your GP or a registered dietitian first.
- Do you need a protein shake?
- No. Protein powder is food that is convenient, not food that is special. If time or appetite makes it hard to eat enough, a shake solves that neatly. If you already reach your range from meals it adds cost and nothing else. We do not sell supplements and have no reason to talk you into one.
- Why do two of the training options give the same range?
- Because the published guidance gives one range for both. Training three or more times a week and training hard to build muscle both sit in the same 1.6 to 2.0g per kilogram band, and inventing a difference between them would be making up precision that nobody has evidence for. What changes between the two is where in that range to start, which the page tells you.
- Which weight should you put in?
- Whatever you weigh now is the straightforward answer, and it is what the range is built for. The figure is worked out per kilogram, so it moves on its own as your weight does and there is nothing else to keep updated. The guide linked below goes into the one case where people sometimes work from a different number.
A protein target that moves when your training does
This range comes from one thing: what you weigh today. Trael sets a protein target alongside your calorie target, personalised from your questionnaire and adjusted each week from your check-ins and the training you have actually done, so it stays in step with the work rather than with a number you typed in once. See what is included.
£24.99 a month with a 3-day free trial. No card needed to start.
Where the numbers come from
Related
- All free tools - the rest of the free calculators and generators
- How much protein do you actually need? A UK guide - the longer version of this, with the same numbers and the same sources
- Calorie deficit calculator - the other half of the nutrition question
- Beginner workout routine generator - A first week of training with every movement explained, plus what sets, reps and rest actually mean.
- Push pull legs generator - A push pull legs split at three or six days a week, with swap options in every slot.
Trael provides general fitness guidance only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a doctor before starting any exercise or diet programme.